But Words Can Never Hurt Me
by princesslut
Summary: The past six months of Morty's life have been absolute hell since Rick gave himself up... until the old man escapes prison and shows up, ragged and bloody, at the Smith's door. Now, Morty has to tend to Rick's wounds and face his growing feelings toward his grandpa.
1. Chapter 1

_(Notes: Hello everyone! This is my first time posting to this particular site. This is just a little RickMorty story that I decided might be decently written enough for my fellow sinners to enjoy, lol. More to come soon!)_

 _But Words Can Never Hurt Me_

 **Chapter 1**

"R-Rick? C'mon, you.. you gotta get up,"

Morty's voice, quavering and filled with just a bit more than his usual worry mingled with the sensation of something cold being pressed to Rick's eye. "Hn?", the old man grunted, opening his eyes halfway to look over at his grandson, who had situated himself in a chair at his bedside, "Jesus, Morty. That fucking ...stings." He muttered, but didn't bother stopping Morty from dabbing gingerly at his black eye.

"I'm.. I'm sorry! I'm trying to be careful, I know it probably hurts a lot." the teenager replied nervously, withdrawing his hand. There was a short silence, in which Rick sat up, winced, and took a long swig from his ever-present flask. "Jeez, prison really.. really fucked you over, di-didn't it, Rick?" Morty started up again, making a feeble attempt at humor. Anything to lighten the fact that his grandfather was in such terrible shape. Raising an eyebrow in amusement, Rick snorted, "Are you kidding MoooEUghrty? You should've.. you should've seen some of the other ..guys in there. I got off pretty fucking.. easy." His speech halted a bit more than usual, and Morty winced as the man took another long pull from his flask. It really didn't seem like a good idea to be drinking when he was in such bad condition, but Morty had enough sense to know not to say anything.

It had been no less than three days ago since Rick had shown up, bleeding and ragged, at 3:00 a.m. on the Smith's doorstep. It had been six months; six full months since he had disappeared, turning himself into the government and sacrificing his freedom so that Morty and his family could return to their home on Earth. By then, the rest of space had grown tired of touring Earth, leaving intergalactic security sparse and uninterested enough for Rick to arrive undetected. Beth nearly woke the neighbors from her sobbing, and even Jerry seemed a bit relieved to see the scientist alive. Rick's escape had nearly cost him his life, but as always, he survived with a few broken ribs, some gashes, and a whole slew of bruises, new and old.

Since then, every time Rick had woken up, Morty was there checking on him, staring at him or at least doing a shitty job at pretending like he wasn't staring at him. His face usually wasn't that red unless Jessica was around… or he was running from something trying to kill him. Either way, it was decidedly different and noticeable. Rick's thoughts couldn't help but drift toward what had happened on one of their last few adventures together. It hadn't been much; Morty had gotten scared and grabbed his hand suddenly, a small gesture, but one that had left them both, mostly Morty, reeling with confusion for a few days. Morty disappeared into the safety of his room for the better part of a week after, and even still, got a little too flustered whenever Rick was within a few feet from him. Obviously the past six months hadn't erased that strange tension between them.

Breaking the small silence, Rick's raspy voice started up again, "Hey, u-uh Morty, could you go get me another glass of, uh, water or somethin', my throats pretty dry you know. Thanks." "S-sure Rick! I'll be uh, uh right back-" Morty scurried off, almost tripping over a pile of miscellaneous clothes and garbage on the ground, eager to do anything to help his grandfather. Free of Morty's nervous presence, the older man snickered, then decided to try standing up. "Alright, you old.. you old geezer." he mumbled to himself, slowly swinging his legs over the side of the bed. It didn't fit him to be stuck in a bed for longer than the four hours he usually slept.

Morty opened the door to the kitchen and sighed heavily. "You f-fuckin', you idiot Morty, stop being so nervous. Ya dope. Jesus-" he muttered, filling the relatively dirty glass back with tap water from the sink. He paused for a second, then opened the medicine cabinet and took out some regular, over-the-counter Advil. He was so nervous that he could feel the heat coming off of his own face. Rick had been asleep or unresponsive for the greater part of the last three days, so he didn't have to interact with him as closely as he was now. The truth was, he hadn't heard more than a mumbled sentence from Rick until today, and just the sound of his voice caused him to shake. "Okay.. okay, g-get your shit together, Morty." He continued to himself, carrying the glass and accompanying pain medicine back to Rick's room.  
"He-Here, Rick-" he started, but abruptly stopped when he gazed up, and nearly ran into the taller man, who had propped himself up against the doorframe, wobbling only slightly and bent over in pain. "What.. what do you think you're doing?! You're, jeez, Rick, you're really hurt." Morty stuttered, face growing red both from worry and the sudden closeness of their faces. "I'm fuckin, I'm fine Morty, you little, l-little piece of shit, Morty!" Rick huffed, glaring down at the squirming teenager, "I'm.. I've been fucked up worse than..worse than this. Why the hell are you so..so freaked out?" Rick looked down at the kid, and noticed that he looked genuinely upset with the situation and decided to curb his anger for a bit. "I'll, I'll sit doAUGwn Morty, fine." Wincing with effort, he limped the few steps back to the messy bed, shooing Morty away when he tried supporting him. Morty avoided eye contact, and hurriedly handed Rick the water and medicine he had nearly just spilt. Rick looked down, noting that the kid's hands were shaking slightly. He popped the pill into his mouth and threw the entire glass back in one impressive swig. Taking his time, he set the glass back down onto the bedside table, then sighed, resting his gaze lazily onto his grandson, "So, uh, what's your deal, M-Morty?" his tone was accusatory, but not angry, "I haven't.. I haven't seen you this spooked since uh, since you were dancing with uh, whatsername, Jessica." Morty was mortified and quickly started to deny it, "What? N..No Rick, I dunno what you're...what you're talking about, I-" Rick stopped him with a single finger on the boy's lips, causing Morty to blush harder, "Don't you.. fuckin'.. lie to me, M-Morty. I'm a.. goddamn genius. Spit it out, what's wrong with you?" he rasped, his tone accusatory and confused.

Morty took a step back, his face red now for a different reason, "Wha..what's wrong with me? What the hell is w-wrong with you, R-Rick?" He asked, his voice rising shrilly, "What you did.. was really..really fucked up, okay?" The biting words couldn't seem to stop bubbling from his lips, and Rick tried interrupting, "Yo, hey, M-Morty, calm down, it's..fuckin' the middle of the night, Morty. Your parents are-" "OH NOW you c-care about my parents? You.. you left us, R-Rick!" Morty angrily wiped away a stray tear that had begun to trickle down his cheek, and continued, shaking with anger and embarrassment at the sudden outburst, "Six fucking MONTHS, you've been.. you've been gone. And what.. what did you think would happen to m..me, huh?" Rick was taken aback, not used to his grandson even coming close to articulating his feelings. Unable to come up with a witty remark, he leaned back, patiently, yet intently waiting for the boy to get it out of his system, "I mean, I.. I can't believe you.. you left us! You left m-me! After that.. thing. That thing that happened where we..uh, y'know. I just." He struggled to continue, the anger finally leaving his voice, "I couldn't stop f-fuckin'..thinking about you, R-Rick."  
Rick was speechless, at least for the moment. What in the hell was this all about? Was he reading this all wrong? He'd never seen Morty like this before, the kid was struggling to keep even the pathetic amount of composure that he usually had. A strained silence fell over them, and Morty couldn't bring himself to look at Rick. "H-hey, Morty." Rick's voice was soft, but broke the tension, and Morty looked up, ashamed and afraid of what the older man's expression would be. Meeting each other's eyes, it was Rick's turn to look away, sighing, "I'm.. jesus, I'm sorry Morty. It was.. it was all I could do. To protect you." He cleared his throat, and busied himself by taking a sip of his flask. Morty's big brown eyes widened at the unusually honest tone his grandfather just uttered those words. "Wha..whaddya mean?" He sniffled, then wiped his runny nose absently on his arm. Rick glared at him, "You know.. what I mean, you li-little shit." He saw the dumb, snotty expression on his grandson's face and sighed, elaborating, "If I didn't give myself u-up, you would've had to live on that shitty small-ass planet. You deserve b-better than that, kid."

Mustering up all the courage he had, Morty got onto the bed and crawled up to lay next to Rick, curling into his broken body just as he had imagined himself doing every night that Rick had been imprisoned. "Eeerugh, Morty… isn't it..kinda weird to uh, _cuddle_ your grandpa?" The older man said slowly, careful not to upset Morty's fragile feelings. Almost annoyed, Morty gingerly slid an arm around Rick, then made a point of snuggling into his chest, "Shut..shut up, Rick." the teenager mumbled, closing his eyes and falling silent. Confused, but not enough to disturb Morty, who let's face it, looked pretty cute curled up next to him, Rick let out a small sigh and allowed himself to sink back into unconsciousness, where he nearly always felt… certain.

 _to be continued.._


	2. Chapter 2

_(Notes: Hello again, sinners! Here's the next tidbit of "But Words Can Never Hurt Me". Wrote this while listening to a TON of The Neighbourhood &Arctic Monkeys, heh. Enjoy, and write me a review so that I can improve/get your feedback! 3)_

 **Chapter 2**

The early morning light filtered through the blinds onto Rick's bed, and the smell of coffee and the faint hint of booze on the sheets roused Morty to consciousness. He found himself sprawled out, alone, and tangled up in Rick's blankets.  
"H..huh?" He slowly sat up, allowing his memory to catch up with what had happened last night and how he'd ended up here, in Rick's room. In Rick's _bed_. Blushing lightly, he looked down, realizing that he didn't have a shirt on. "MORTY! Breakfast is ready!" Beth's voice rang out, and the teenager scrambled to find where he had tossed his yellow shirt. Tugging it on, he jumped off of the bed and headed downstairs to where everyone sat at the table eating breakfast.

Morty slid into his usual seat, taking the time to examine everyone's expressions carefully while piling pancakes onto his plate. Jerry ignored everyone, staring dumbly down at his tablet; he usually played some sort of balloon game at breakfast, looking up every once in awhile to make a snide remark. Beth looked exhausted as usual, but was half-heartedly engaged in a conversation with Summer, who was ignoring her phone for once to talk about some guy that she was seeing later that day. With a flutter of anxiety, Morty met eyes with Rick, who shot him a quick wink. Crimson, Morty looked away, busying himself with his food, "Are you okay, Morty? You look like you're running a fever." Beth commented, leaning over to place a hand on his forehead, "J..jeez, Mom, I'm fine! I just didn't really get sleep last night, y'know?" Rick faked a cough to cover his chuckle, and Beth leaned back, satisfied with his answer, "Okay sweetie, I have a favor to ask you." The teenager nodded a little too quickly, relieved that his mom never paid too close attention to him, and Beth continued, "Would you mind staying home today and keeping an eye on your grandpa? The rest of us all have plans for the day, and ...well, I just don't want Dad getting himself killed trying to do things by himself." Sighing, Rick leaned back, simultaneously pushing his plate away and opening his mouth to soothe his daughter's worries, "Sweetie, I'm.. I'm fine. I don't need a ba-aaaUGHH-bysitter." Morty pushed the food around on his plate to avoid looking at him, angry with himself for desperately wanting to be home alone with Rick. A flood of heat washed over him just thinking about it, and he began to sweat a little in anticipation of what he was about to say, "No, Rick! Mom's right, you-you aren't in a condition to be by yourself." Rick raised an eyebrow, giving him a rare faintly surprised look that made Morty's heart skip a beat.  
"Eugh… _whaaat_ ever. Great pancakes, honey." Rick grumbled, getting up abruptly and carrying his plate into the kitchen, ruffling his daughter's hair on the way out. He might have pretended to be annoyed, but in reality, he was glad that his family, except Jerry, cared so much about his well-being. Half-smiling to himself, he sauntered with a little less fluidity than usual into the garage.

Within the next hour, each member of the Smith family headed off to run their own errands for the day, leaving Rick and Morty alone in the house for a while. For the first couple of hours, Morty mostly stayed in his room playing video games, too nervous to go down into the garage with Rick. He could barely bring himself to check on him around noon, when Rick needed to take his medication.  
"Hey, Rick.. I um, got your medicine.." Morty did his best not to let his voice quaver, sticking his head into the garage to see what Rick was up to. The battered scientist sat hunched over at his desk, fiddling with some complicated looking device, and Morty hesitated to enter until he saw the man's hand wave him in. Placing the medicine onto the table, Morty swallowed nervously, hovering my Rick's side. The man shot him an annoyed side glance, "What, Morty? Are you- you gonna be weird about last night, or something? It was your idea to sleep with me." he said pointedly, his voice level. He ignored the pain medicine, choosing instead to finish off the mysterious liquid in his flask, and Morty took a second to figure out how he wanted to express his feelings, shifting his weight anxiously back and forth. "Damn, you're freaking me out. Spiiiit it out, kid." Rick sighed, swivelling completely in his chair to face his grandson. Morty had to stop himself from shaking again, unused to such rapt attention from the older man, "Last night was.. it was amazing, y'know? To be so cl-close to you, just.. God. You make me, uh..oh jeez, I can't believe I'm saying this." He paused, not wanting to stammer during the next sentence, and Rick continued to stare directly into the boy's face, "You make me feel safe, Rick. I never want you to leave me again, I mean, I was so scared without you here; even though life's has been more normal than.. than ever. I ...love you." Morty managed to say slowly, unable to meet the man's icy gaze out of fear that he would see disgust in the older man's eyes.

There was a drawn silence, in which Rick mulled over how to respond. Obviously, he knew he would have to be careful with the boy's feelings, "Jesus, Morty. You're like… some kind of lovesick teenager or something." Morty swallowed hard and trembled, too ashamed to make eye contact. He worried that even for Rick, an immoral asshole, this... _this_ was a bit much. With a huff, Rick lazily reached out with both arms, pulling Morty rather forcefully onto his lap so that the boy was straddling him. Long, thin fingers forcibly turned Morty's head so that their eyes finally met. Rick wanted to drown in those brown eyes, startled and wide, and he smirked, "You have _no idea_ what you're getting yourself into, Morty. I.. I'm a fucking intergalactic criminal. I'm dangerous, cruel, and I don't really give a shit about anything. Just.. what about that is attractive to y-you, huh?" Morty was startled, unable to speak; his mouth opened and closed like a fish, and his cheeks burned from being so close to Rick. "What's wrong, baby? C..cat's got your tongue?" The man drawled, grazing a thumb over the boy's lips. "No.. no way! I want this, Rick-ooOohhh, man..." Morty stammered, the pitch of his voice rising when Rick leaned in to messily kiss his neck., "That's pretty fucked up, Morty. I'm.. we're genetically related. Family. That's illegal on this planet." He continued pushing it, wanting the younger boy to be fully aware of the decision he was making; however, Rick was completely surprised to see the kid mimicking his smirk, suddenly confident, "Wh-what, Rick? You've done.. some pretty fucked up stuff, and... I-I bet that this is like... totally normal, y'know, in other dimensions."  
"You ...sick fuck, Morty." Rick grinned, roughly pulling the teenager into a sloppy booze-tinged kiss. They locked lips, pulling back every once in a while to catch their breath. Morty slipped his hand underneath Rick's shirt, and ran his fingers gently, up and down the man's chest, constantly aware of the injuries beneath his touch. Rick, on the other hand, couldn't get enough of Morty; He hungrily bit and licked the boy's lips and neck, enjoying the feeling of Morty's growing erection grinding against his own as he did so, "I've.. I've wanted this for a long time, Morty." He hissed, taking time to nibble his lobes as he breathed into his ear, and the teenager bucked a little, unable to restrain himself from grinding into the older man, "M.. me too, Rick.." Morty mumbled, feeling himself getting close just from dry humping. He felt ashamed, knowing that Rick was so much more experienced than him. Sensing that the boy was on the edge, Rick chuckled and unzipped his pants in one fluid motion, "Heh, virgins. _Soooo_ easy to please." he teased, but indulged Morty, finishing him off in only a few swift pumps. Morty moaned, watching the older man slowly lick _his_ cum off of his hand as he rode out his orgasm.  
"You owe me one now, kid." Rick rasped, with a sinister grin; Morty knew then that he had his work cut out for him later that night.

 _to be continued.._


End file.
